If your a HAM, you need to be aware of HR-607 which threatens to sell off HALF of the 70cm (430-440Mhz) Amateur Radio band. I personally have been a 70cm fanatic for years, enjoying the fantastic benefits that band has to offer for clarity, range, and the wonderful repeater linking and experimentation (such as IRLP) infrastructure built on 70cm.
Don’t be caught unprepared, read up and fight against HR-607 to protect our limited spectrum!
KD6OIZ (Ben; HAM since 1993) and KG6NTO (Tamarah, HAM since 2002).
It very facinating hw many techies are also HAM’s. I hope you american HAMs can defend you 70cm Band
cheerio
Steve (DL5ZBG)
But sadly are we earning the bandwidth available to us? Our original charter was to increase the number of folks with knowledge of communication techniques and technologies. 9 out of 10 hams could not tune a transmitter if their life depended on it, or cut a dipole to resonance. I hate to see it go, but what great things have come out of Ham radio and what purpose has it served in the past 20 years other than occupying precious bandwidth? It’s become, in most cases, an over glorified exclusive party line, for the price of a bash book. Who deserves 440 more, the rag chewer down the street who wouldn’t recognize a oscillator if if fell on his head, or first responders? The ARRL is also part of the problem, whose demonstrated goal is too shill for equipment manufacturers and sell magazines. If the ARRL were truly interested in Ham Radio, they’d do some thing to help Ham Radio fulfill it’s charter, like make it a requirement for ARRL affiliated clubs to be in the schools. They’d be for supporting raising the requirements, not dumbing them down. Thank God they don’t run the department of Education,or your high school grad wouldn’t know how to add. Ham radio has gone from the fascination of mercury vapor tubes at your local Elmer, to “get out of my way kid”, and get off MY frequency.
I’m no techie, but this post reminds me “Live Free or Die Hard”